Most illegal abortions were done by physicians. A distant but important second category of illegal abortionists was the paramedical person. Amateur abortions ranked third. Here are a few examples of women who died from these efforts.
This beautiful ballet girl got her lover to get her some oil of tansy, which he supplemented with his own efforts, before calling in a doctor whose attempts at aid finished her off.
Sarah Howe, age 57, had been blind since she was three years old. Howe was charged with abortion and with manslaughter in the September, 1941 death of 23-year-old Helen Clark.
A St. Louis grand jury indicted Charles P. Emerich in the abortion death of Maggie Gibbons. They found that Emerich had performed an abortion on Maggie in late December, 1877, in St. Louis, using instruments.
In October of 1939, the body of Barbara Hanson, age 21, was found in a motel room. James Carter and George F. Norton pleaded guilty to performing the abortion that killed Barbara, and each received a 5-7 year sentence.
Mary Kirkpatrick was a 16-year-old mill worker in New Jersey in 1859. She and her boss became sexually involved, and Mary became pregnant. Mary‘s boss obtained an abortifacient, which he gave to Mary.
In January of 1902, Abraham Conheim promised marriage to 19-year-old Harriet Larocque. In April of 1902, Harriet discovered that she was pregnant. Conheim reneged on his promise of marriage, and instead arranged a criminal abortion for her.
In July of 1949, on the basis of a third-party referral, Dorothy Martin went to the home of P.D. Beigun for an abortion. Beigun was not a physician or qualified to practice medicine.
Daisy had an appointment to abort her second-trimester pregnancy scheduled for late April, 1990, at a local abortion clinic. But for some reason, Daisy didn‘t wait for her appointment. Two days before the appointment, she allowed her boyfriend to insert a plastic tube into her uterus in a home-abortion attempt.
On Valentine's Day, 1942, Florence Nimick Schnoor, age 24, died at St. Joseph‘s Hospital in New York of what the coroner called a "brutal and inept" illegal abortion. I‘m classifying this as amateur rather than unknown because no doctor was charged in the case.
In 1928, 20-year-old Stella Wallenberg died from a criminal abortion performed in Chicago. Loretta Rybicki, identified as a "massaguer", was held by the coroner. Dr. Nicholas Kalinowski was held as an accessory.
Illegal Abortions Done by Amateurs
Most illegal abortions were done by physicians. A distant but important second category of illegal abortionists was the paramedical person. Amateur abortions ranked third. Here are a few examples of women who died from these efforts.